Display control device and display control method

ABSTRACT

A list of a plurality of objects to be displayed, which corresponds to page images to be operated, respectively, is displayed; it is determined which object is selected as an object to be moved among the plurality of displayed objects to be displayed; it is determined which object is selected as a movement destination object among the plurality of displayed objects to be displayed; and allocation page images are displayed in a state where a page image corresponding to the object determined as the object to be moved and a page image corresponding to the object determined as the movement destination object are allocated to a single page.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 13/270,395filed Oct. 11, 2011, which is based upon and claims the benefit ofpriority from: U.S. provisional application 61/392,685, filed on Oct.13, 2010; the entire contents all of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate to a technique for allocating aplurality of page images to one page.

BACKGROUND

According to the related art, for example, so-called “Nin1 setting” isperformed in printing setting or the like to allocate a plurality ofpage images to a single page.

When the Nin1 setting is performed, a plurality of hierarchies on a userinterface screen of a printer driver or the like has to be traced up tothe hierarchy of the Nin1 setting by executing a button operation aplurality of times. For this reason, an operation load on users isconsiderable.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the system configuration of an imageprocessing system according to exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of an imageprocessing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating various functions of a displaycontrol device included in the image processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a general process in thedisplay control device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the details of a flow of the process(display control method) in the display control device according to theembodiments.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a data table indicating acorrespondence relationship between the objects to be displayed in FIG.6 and page images which correspond to the objects to be displayed,respectively.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table stored inan HDD in a state shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table stored inthe HDD in a state shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocationsetting.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a form in which two objects to bedisplayed, allocated to one double-side allocation image selected by auser, are separated from each other in the drawn state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, a display control device according to an exemplaryembodiment includes a list display control unit, an operation inputunit, a movement object determination unit, an object movementdestination determination unit, and an allocation display control unit.

The list display control unit displays a list of a plurality of objectsto be displayed, which corresponds to page images to be operated,respectively.

The operation input unit receives an input operation of a user.

The movement object determination unit determines which object isselected as an object to be moved among the plurality of objects to bedisplayed, which is displayed by the list display control unit, based onthe input operation received by the operation input unit.

The object movement destination determination unit determines whichobject is selected as a movement destination object which is a movementdestination of the object to be moved among the plurality of objects tobe displayed, which is displayed by the list display control unit, basedon the input operation received by the operation input unit.

The allocation display control unit displays an allocation page imagebeing in a state where a page image corresponding to the objectdetermined as the object to be moved by the movement objectdetermination unit and a page image corresponding to the objectdetermined as the movement destination object by the object movementdestination determination unit are allocated to a single page.

In general, a display control device according to an exemplaryembodiment includes an allocation display control unit, an operationinput unit, an exclusion object determination unit, an object movementdestination determination unit, a list display control unit.

The allocation display control unit displays an allocation page imagebeing in a state where a plurality of objects to be displayed, whichcorresponds to a plurality of page images, is allocated to a singlepage.

The operation input unit receives an input operation of a user.

The exclusion object determination unit determines which object isselected as an object to be excluded, which is moved to be excluded fromthe allocation page image, among the plurality of objects to bedisplayed, which corresponds to a plurality of page images included inthe allocation page image displayed by the allocation display controlunit, based on the input operation received by the operation input unit.

The object movement destination determination unit determines a movementdestination of the object to be excluded based on the input operationreceived by the operation input unit.

The list display control unit excludes the object to be excluded amongthe plurality of objects to be displayed, which is included in theallocation page image to which the object to be excluded is allocated,and displaying the object to be excluded as the object to be displayed,which is different from the allocation page image, if the objectmovement destination determination unit determines that a region whichdoes not correspond to any object to be displayed, which is displayed incorrespondence with the page image, is selected as the movementdestination of the object to be excluded.

First Embodiment

Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment will be described with reference tothe drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the system configuration of an imageprocessing system according to the exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is adiagram illustrating the hardware configuration of an image processingapparatus Q.

An image processing system 900 includes a client terminal 7 and theimage processing apparatus Q. The client terminal 7 and the imageprocessing apparatus Q are connected to each other via a LAN (Local AreaNetwork) or a WAN (wide Area Network) so as to electrically communicatewith each other.

As an example, here, the image processing apparatus Q includes thedisplay control device 1 according to the exemplary embodiment. Ofcourse, the client terminal 7 or the like may include the displaycontrol device 1 instead of the image processing apparatus Q. If theentire system can realize the functions of the display control device 1,the various functions of the display control device 1 may be distributedto, for example, the client terminal 7, the image processing apparatus Qor the like.

For example, the image processing apparatus Q is an MFP (Multi FunctionPeripheral). The image processing apparatus Q includes a processor 801,an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 802, a memory 803, anHDD (Hard Disk Drive) 804, a touch panel display 805 having thefunctions of a display unit and an operation input unit, an arithmeticI/O unit 810, a sheet storage unit 601, and a printing unit P. The touchpanel display 805 stores the details of a setting operation in, forexample, the HDD 804 based on an input operation of a user and allowsthe printing unit P to perform printing based on the set details.

For example, the client terminal 7 is a PC (Personal Computer). Theclient terminal 7 includes a processor 701, an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit) 702, a memory 703, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive)704, an input operation unit 705 such as a keyboard or a mouse, and adisplay 706.

In the image processing system according to the exemplary embodiment,the processors 801 and 701 have a role of performing various kinds ofprocessing of the image processing system and also have a role ofrealizing various functions by executing a program stored in the memory803, the memory 703, the HDD 804, the HDD 704, or the like. Of course,the processors 801 and 701 can be realized by a CPU (Central ProcessingUnit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) that can execute equivalentarithmetic processing. Further, the HDDs 804 and 704 can be substitutedby a storage device such as a flash memory.

The memories 803 and 703 can be configured by, for example, a RAM(Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a DRAM (Dynamic RandomAccess Memory), an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), a VRAM (VideoRAM), or a flash memory. Accordingly, the memories 803 and 703 have arole of storing various kinds of information or programs used for theimage processing system.

In the image processing system according to the exemplary embodiment, auser can operate a printer driver operating on the client terminal 7 inorder to give a printing instruction to the image processing apparatus Qvia the LAN. Based on an input operation on the touch panel display 805of the image processing apparatus Q, printing setting and printing canalso be performed in the single image processing apparatus Q.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating various functions ofthe display control device 1 included in the image processing apparatusQ.

The display control device 1 includes a list display control unit 101, amovement object determination unit 102, an object movement destinationdetermination unit 103, an allocation display control unit 104, and anexclusion object determination unit 105.

The list display control unit 101 displays a list of a plurality ofobjects to be displayed, which can be made to correspond to page imagesto be subjected to an operation.

Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display 805, themovement object determination unit 102 determines whether a given objectis selected as an object to be moved among the plurality of objects tobe displayed, which are displayed by the list display control unit 101.

Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display 805, theobject movement destination determination unit 103 determines whether agiven object is selected as a movement destination object, which is amovement destination of the object to be moved, among the plurality ofobjects to be displayed, which are displayed by the list display controlunit 101.

The allocation display control unit 104 displays an allocation pageimage which is in a state where a page image corresponding to the objectdetermined as the object to be moved by the movement objectdetermination unit 102 and a page image corresponding to the objectdetermined as the movement destination object by the object movementdestination determination unit 103 can be allocated to a single page.

Thus, it is possible to obtain the allocation page image, which is inthe state where both the display objects can be allocated to a singlepage, just by selecting any object among the plurality of objects to bedisplayed, which appears in the list and moving the selected object to aregion corresponding to any object.

In a user interface of a printer driver according to the related art,the number of pages allocated to a single page has to be first set on anallocation setting screen in order to perform allocation setting.However, according to the technique according to the exemplaryembodiment, the allocation setting can be performed with a lesser numberof operations.

Further, in the allocation setting of the printer driver according tothe related art, the allocation setting to be performed is applied toall the pages of an original document to be set. Therefore, theallocation setting may not be performed to only a specific page of theoriginal document. According to the technique according to the exemplaryembodiment, however, any pages of the original document can be selectedso as to be allocated, thereby achieving flexible allocation setting.

The allocation display control unit 104 determines a positionalrelationship between the page image corresponding to the object to bemoved and the page image corresponding to the object determined as themovement destination object in accordance with a location to which theobject determined as the object to be moved by the movement objectdetermination unit 102 is moved in a region corresponding to the objectdetermined as the movement destination object by the object movementdestination determination unit 103.

In the allocation setting of allocating and disposing the plurality ofpage images on a single page, a user sometimes desires to arbitrarilyarrange the respective images on the page. According to thisconfiguration, even if the user desires to arbitrarily arrange therespective images, the allocation location on the page can simply bedetermined as the result of the object to be moved just by controllingthe movement destination of the selected object to be moved in theregion corresponding to the object to be moved.

Specifically, for example, when the movement destination of the objectto be moved is on the upper side of the middle of the movementdestination object, the movement destination of the object to be movedmay be allocated to a page location in the front of each page image.When the movement destination of the object to be moved is on the lowerside of the middle of the movement destination object, the movementdestination of the object to be moved may be allocated to a pagelocation in the rear of each page image.

An operation of selecting an object to be moved among a plurality ofobjects to be displayed, which is displayed by the list display controlunit 101, is performed through dragging.

An operation of selecting the movement destination object which is themovement destination of the object to be moved among the plurality ofobjects to be displayed, which is displayed by the list display controlunit 101, is performed through releasing.

Of course, the operation of selecting the object to be moved is notlimited to dragging. For example, this operation may be performed by analgorithm for recognizing the object to be moved just by selection.Further, the operation of selecting the movement destination object maybe performed through, for example, dropping or simple selection known asoperations of a mouse. That is, under an environment of the userinterface operation, any operation may be performed as long as the“object to be moved” and the “movement destination object” can beselected consequently.

Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display 805, theexclusion object determination unit 105 determines which object isselected as an object to be excluded, which is to be moved and excludedfrom the allocation page images, among the plurality of objects to bedisplayed, which corresponds to the plurality of page images included inthe allocation page images displayed by the allocation display controlunit 104.

Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display 805, theobject movement destination determination unit 103 determines themovement destination of the object to be excluded.

When the object movement destination determination unit 103 determines,as the movement destination of the object to be excluded, a region whichdoes not correspond to any object to be displayed, which are displayedin correspondence with the page image, the list display control unit 101excludes the object to be excluded from the plurality of objects to bedisplayed, which is included in the allocation page images to which theobject to be excluded is allocated and displays the object to beexcluded as an object to be displayed, which is different from theallocation page images.

Thus, just by moving any object among the plurality of display objectsto be displayed, which is included in the allocation page images, to theoutside of the allocation page images, it is possible to simply adjustthe number of page images to be allocated to the allocation page images.

Further, when the excluded object to be excluded is moved to the regioncorresponding to another object to be displayed, it is possible toobtain this object to be displayed and the allocation page image towhich the object to be excluded is allocated.

Of course, as the specification of the user interface, the plurality ofobjects to be displayed can be selected simultaneously as the objects tobe excluded.

For example, the allocation page images can be set so that the number ofpages of a multiple of 2 can normally be allocated.

When the number of objects to be displayed, which are included in theallocation page images, is odd as the result obtained by excluding oneobject to be displayed as the object to be excluded, the list displaycontrol unit 101 also displays the object to be displayed, which ispaired with the object to be displayed which is excluded as the objectto be excluded, as the object to be displayed, which is different fromthe allocation page image.

When the number of objects to be displayed, which are included in theallocation page images, is odd as the result obtained by excluding oneobject to be displayed as the object to be excluded, the allocationdisplay control unit 104 allocates the object to be displayed, which issubsequent to and the closest to the allocation page image andcorresponds to a single page image, to the allocation page image insteadof the object to be excluded.

The list display control unit 101 and the allocation display controlunit 104 manage the respective objects to be displayed.

Specifically, the list display control unit 101 and the allocationdisplay control unit 104 store and manage, in the HDD 804, thecoordinates (involved in movement caused by dragging) of the presentlocations of each object to be displayed in a screen, which isdetermined based on an input operation of the user, or informationregarding how many pages are allocated to the present objects to bedisplayed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a general process in thedisplay control device 1.

The processor 801 acquires page images to be printed (ACT 101). Here,the page images may be acquired by scanning images of an originaldocument in the image processing apparatus Q, may be acquired byreceiving the images as image data via a network, or may be acquiredfrom a portable recording medium such as a USB memory or an SD card. Theprocessor 801 stores the image data of the page images acquired in theabove-described way in, for example, the HDD 804.

Subsequently, the processor 801 transmits the image data of the pageimages acquired in the above-described way to the touch panel display805, when the user inputs an instruction to request printing setting onthe touch panel display 805.

Based on the input operation of the user on the touch panel display 805,the processor 801 receives the printing setting of the printing which isbased on the acquired image data (ACT 102).

Based on the printing setting received in the above-described way, theprocessor 801 supplies sheets from the sheet storage unit 601 to theprinting unit P (ACT 103).

The processor 801 allows the printing unit P to print the acquired imagedata based on the printing setting (ACT 104).

The processor 801 allows the printing unit P to discharge the sheetsubjected to the printing out of the image processing apparatus Q (ACT105).

Next, the allocation setting of the image processing apparatus Q at theprinting setting time will be described according to the exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the details of a flow of the process(display control method) performed by the display control device 1according to the exemplary embodiment.

First, the processor 801 allows the touch panel display 805 to displaythe printing setting screens shown in FIG. 6 when receiving the printingsetting. In the example shown in FIG. 6, five objects O1 to O5 to bedisplayed, which correspond to five page images to be printed aredisplayed on the screen. The user operates the touch panel display 805to execute various kinds of printing setting on the screen shown in FIG.6 and presses down a printing execution button 805 b to execute theprinting in accordance with the desired printing setting. Here, forexample, the objects O1 to O5 to be displayed are thumbnail images.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a data table indicating acorrespondence relationship between the objects O1 to O5 to be displayedin FIG. 6 and page images P1 to P5 which correspond to the objects O1 toO5 to be displayed, respectively. The data table shown in FIG. 7 isstored in, for example, the HDD 804.

Regions A1 to A5 can correspond to the plurality of objects O1 to O5 tobe displayed. The regions A1 to A5 are each a region (which is a regionsurrounded by a dotted line shown in FIG. 6) which includes each objectto be displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the regions A1 to A5are not normally displayed on a screen. Of course, the regions A1 to A5may be temporarily displayed when the user selects the object to bedisplayed.

For example, when the user selects the inside of the region A1corresponding to the object O1 to be displayed, the processor 801determines that the object O1 to be displayed is selected in spite ofthe fact that the selected position does not overlap with the object O1to be displayed.

Further, when the selected object is moved by an operation of the user,the processor 801 determines the movement destination of the object tobe moved based on a contact position of the finger of the user or astylus pen selecting the object to be moved or the region correspondingto the object to be moved.

For example, when releasing is performed in a state where the region A2corresponding to the object O2 to be displayed, which is the object tobe moved, overlaps with the region A1 corresponding to the object O1 tobe displayed (for example, a state shown in FIGS. 8 and 9), theprocessor 801 can determine that the movement destination of the objectO2 to be displayed is the object O1 to be displayed.

The processor 801 determines that the regions other than the regions A1to A5 corresponding to the objects O1 to O5 to be displayed arebackground regions which do not correspond to the objects O1 to O5 to bedisplayed on the screen displayed on the touch panel display 805 as inFIG. 6.

First, the processor 801 detects a pressed location of the user on thetouch panel display 805 (ACT 201).

Subsequently, the processor 801 determines whether the pressed locationis a region corresponding to one of the plurality of objects O1 to O5 tobe displayed (ACT 202). When the pressed location is the regioncorresponding to one of the objects to be displayed, detecting acontinuous releasing location starts.

On the other hand, when the pressed location is not the regioncorresponding to one of the plurality of objects O1 to O5 to bedisplayed (No in ACT 202) and the pressed location is the printingexecution button 805 b (Yes in ACT 208), the printing setting ends.

Until releasing (separating the finger of the user or the stylus penfrom the touch panel display 805) the processor 801 moves and displaysthe object to be displayed with the movement of the pressed location(ACT 203).

The processor 801 detects the releasing position of the moved object tobe moved (ACT 204). When the releasing position is not the regioncorresponding to one of the objects to be displayed (Yes in ACT 205),the processor 801 cancels the movement display of the object to bedisplayed and displays a state (for example, the state shown in FIG. 6)of the original location (ACT 209).

On the other hand, when the region (for example, the region A1) at whichthe releasing position of the object to be moved corresponds to one ofthe objects to be displayed is designated as the movement destination(No in ACT 205), the processor 801 additionally allocates and displaysthe page image (for example, the page image P2) corresponding to thisobject (for example, the object O1 to be displayed) to be moved to theobject (for example, the region A1) to be displayed, which correspond tothe region (for example, the region A1) selected as the movementdestination by the releasing (ACT 206 and ACT 207) (for example, seeFIG. 9). FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data tablestored in the HDD 804 in the state shown in FIG. 9.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the allocation number of page images perpage determined by operating the displayed objects is applied to all thepages, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, in theexample shown in FIG. 8, only the page images P1 and P2 are displayed asa 2 in 1 image and the other page images remain as 1 in 1 images.

As shown in FIG. 9, when 2 in 1 allocation is set for all the pages, theprocessor 801 displays an object O1″ to be displayed in a state whereall of the page images P1, P2, P3, and P4 allocated to two objects O1′and O2′ to be displayed are rearranged so as to be allocated to a singlepage (4 in 1), as shown in FIG. 12, for example, in a case (FIG. 11)where the region corresponding to the object O2′ to be moved is releasedover the region corresponding to the object O1′ to which two page imagesare allocated.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table stored inthe HDD 804 in the state shown in FIG. 12.

Next, an example of an operation will be described in which 4 in 1 or 2in 1 allocation is set, and then the allocation number of page imagesper page is returned to 2 in 1 or 1 in 1.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, when the user drags the page image P4allocated to the object O1″ on the touch panel display 805, moves thepage image P4 out of the region corresponding to the object O1″ to bedisplayed, and releases the page image P4 (FIG. 15), the page images P4and P3 managed as a pair of images are excluded from the objects O1′ tobe displayed for allocation.

Since the page images remaining to be allocated to the objects O1″ to bedisplayed are only the page images P1 and P2, the two page images are inthe same display state as the state of the object O1′ to be displayed asthe 2 in 1 image (see FIG. 15).

The processor 801 switches the screen display to the display state shownin FIG. 15 and changes the contents of the data table to the state shownin FIG. 10.

For example, when the page image P2 is dragged so as to be moved out ofthe region corresponding to the object O1′ to be displayed and isreleased (FIG. 16) from the state shown in FIG. 15, the 2 in 1 settingof the objects O1′ to O3′ is canceled and all the objects to bedisplayed become the 1 in 1 display state, as shown in FIG. 6.

By combining the above-described operations and setting any allocation,the desired page images can be assigned to the desired objects to bedisplayed with the desired number of page images. Accordingly, forexample, by setting documents of all the ten pages (page images P1 toP10) for allocation, flexible allocation setting can be achieved asfollows:

-   page images P1 to P4: 4 in 1 setting,-   page images P5 to P8: 3 in 1 setting, and-   page images P9 and P10: 2 in 1 setting.

When such allocation is set and then the processor 801 detects pressingof the printing execution button 805 b of the user, the printing isperformed in the allocation setting.

Each operation in the process of the above-described display controldevice is realized by causing the processor 801 to execute a displaycontrol program stored in the memory 802.

According to this exemplary embodiment, the lesser operation load andmore flexible allocation setting can be achieved in comparison to theuser interface according to the related art in which it is necessary tooperate a plurality of taps, buttons, or the like in order to reach anoperation screen on which the allocation is set.

Further, in the above-described exemplary embodiment, the case wasdescribed in which the allocation printing is set on the printingsetting screen, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example,the technique described in this exemplary embodiment can be applied, forexample, even when allocation of a plurality of pages is desired to beset in word processor software.

Of course, as a determination criterion used to determine which objectto be displayed is the movement destination object at the time of movingthe above-described object to be moved, a determination criterion suchas a selection rule used at the time of moving a file to be moved to amovement destination folder in a known operating system or the like.

Other Embodiments

Next, other exemplary embodiments will be described.

In the above-described exemplary embodiment, a setting method ofallocating a plurality of page images on one surface of a single pagewas described. In an exemplary embodiment, a setting method ofallocating page images to the front surface and the rear surface of asingle page will be described.

First, double-side allocation setting based on two display state of 1 in1 images will be described.

For example, when the user operates the touch panel display 805 tosimultaneously select two objects O2 and O3 to be displayed and to moveand draw both of the objects to be mutually moved so that the movementdestination of one of the two objects to be displayed becomes the otherobject to be moved, as shown in FIG. 17, the processor 801 displays adouble-side allocation image being in a state where one object to bemoved can be allocated to the front surface of a single sheet and theother object to be moved can be allocated to the rear surface of thesingle sheet (FIG. 18).

In this way, the processor 801 displays the double-side allocation imagebeing in the state where the objects to be displayed, which correspondto the page images on both surfaces of a single sheet.

Next, an operation of returning two page images P2 and P3 set to beallocated to both surfaces to the original one-side allocation statewill be described.

When the exclusion object determination unit 105 selects two pointsinside the region corresponding to the double-side allocation image anddetermines the two points are separated from each other in a separationdirection, the list display control unit 101 displays the objects to bedisplayed, which correspond to the page images allocated as thedouble-side allocation image, as mutually independent objects to bedisplayed.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a form in which two objects to bedisplayed, which can be allocated to one double-side allocation imageselected by a user, are separated from each other in the drawn state.

Of course, when the objects to be displayed, which are operated so as tobe drawn to each other in the above-described way, are set mutually as a2 in 1 image, the double-side page images of the double-side allocationimage are allocated as a 2 in 1 image.

In the above-described exemplary embodiments, the embodiment of theimage processing apparatus having a principal function of the displaycontrol device was described, but the invention is not necessarilylimited thereto. For example, a printer driver or an application programmay be configured in the client terminal 7.

Further, a computer forming the display control device can supply aprogram executing the above-described processes as a display controlprogram. In the exemplary embodiments, the program realizing thefunctions of the invention is recorded in advance in the storage regionprovided inside the apparatus, but the invention is not limited thereto.Instead, the same program may be downloaded to the apparatus via anetwork or the same program stored in a computer-readable recordingmedium may be installed to an apparatus. Any recording medium may beused as long as the recording medium can store the program and acomputer can read the program from the recording medium. Specifically,examples of the recording medium include an internal storage device,such as a ROM or a RAM, mounted in a computer, a portable storage mediumsuch as a CD-ROM, a flexible disc, a DVD disc, a magneto-optical disc,or an IC card, a database retaining a computer program, the database onanother computer, or a transmission medium on a line. A function ofinstalling or downloading the program in this way cooperated with aninternal OS (Operating System) inside the apparatus may be realized.

A part or the entirety of the program may be an execution moduledynamically generated.

Of course, in the above-described exemplary embodiments, at least someof various processes realized by causing a processor to execute theprogram may be executed by a circuit of the ASIC 802.

As described in detail above, it is possible to provide the techniquedescribed in the specification to reduce an operation load of theoperations of allocating the plurality of page images to a single page.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of invention. Indeed, the novel apparatus and methods describedherein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the apparatus andmethods described herein may be made without departing from the spiritof the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents areintended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within thescope and spirit of the inventions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display control device comprising: a display;an input reception unit configured to receive operational input from auser; a processor; and one or more modules stored in a memory andconfigured for execution by the processor, the one or more modulesincluding instructions: to display a plurality of layout objects on thedisplay, each layout object of the plurality of layout objectsdisplaying a defined number (2N) of page objects in a defined layout; ifwhen there is a remainder of dividing a total number of the page objectsby 2, to display one layout object for the remainder, the layout objectfor the remainder displaying a remainder number of the page object ofthe page object with the layout objects displaying the defined number ofpage objects; to the layout objects so that each layout object displaystwice the defined number of page objects in response to receiving anoperation to overlap one layout object displaying the defined number ofpage objects or the remainder number of the page object with anotherlayout object displaying the defined number of page objects or theremainder number of the page object; and if when there is the remainderof dividing the total number of the page objects by 4, to display onelayout object for the remainder, the layout object for the remainderdisplaying the remainder number of the page object with the layoutobjects displaying twice the defined number of page objects.
 2. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein the one or more modules includeinstructions to update and display the another layout object in responseto receiving a drag-and-drop operation to drag and drop the one layoutobject to the another layout object.
 3. The device according to claim 1,wherein the one or more modules include instructions to update anddisplay a first image of the another layout object on one side of onesheet and display a second image of the one layout object on an otherside of the one sheet in response to receiving a simultaneouslyselection operation to simultaneous select the one layout object and theanother layout object from the plurality of layout objects.
 4. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein the one or more modules includeinstructions to display the plurality of objects a defined value of pageimages and displaying each object updated to display two times thedefined value of page images in response to receiving a selectionoperation to select the one layout object from the plurality of layoutobjects and receiving an add operation to add the one layout object tothe another layout object.
 5. A display control method comprising:displaying, by a device comprising a processor, a plurality of layoutobjects on a display device, each layout object of the plurality oflayout objects displays a defined number of page objects in a definedlayout; if when there is a remainder of dividing a total number of thepage objects by 2, displaying one layout object for the remainder, thelayout object for the remainder displaying a remainder number of thepage object of the page object with the layout objects displaying thedefined number of page objects; by the device, the display objects sothat each layout object displays twice the defined number of pageobjects in response to receiving an operation to overlap one layoutobject displaying the defined number of page objects or the remaindernumber of the page object with another layout object displaying thedefined number of page objects or the remainder number of the pageobject; and if when there is the remainder of dividing the total numberof the page objects by 4, to display one layout object for theremainder, the layout object for the remainder displaying the remaindernumber of the page object with the layout objects displaying twice thedefined number of page objects.
 6. The method according to claim 5,further comprising displaying and updating the another layout object inresponse to receiving a drag-and-drop operation to drag and drop the onelayout object to the another layout object.
 7. The method according toclaim 5, further comprising displaying and updating a first image of theanother layout object on one side of one sheet and displaying a secondimage of the one layout object on an other side of the one sheet inresponse to receiving a simultaneously selection operation tosimultaneously select the one layout object and the another layoutobject from the plurality of objects.
 8. The method according to claim5, further comprising displaying the plurality of objects a definedvalue of page images and displaying each object updated to display twotimes the define value page images in response to receiving a selectionoperation to select the one layout object from the plurality of objectsand receiving an add operation to add the one layout object to theanother layout object.
 9. The device according to claim 1, wherein apage object of the page objects is a thumbnail image of each page of adocument to be printed.
 10. The method according to claim 5, wherein apage object of the page objects is a thumbnail image of each page of adocument to be printed.
 11. A display control device comprising: adisplay; an input reception unit configured to receive operational inputfrom a user; a processor; and one or more modules stored in a memory andconfigured for execution by the processor, the one or more modulesincluding instructions: to display a plurality of layout objects on thedisplay, each layout object displaying one page object; to display thelayout objects so that each layout object displays two page objects in adefined layout in response to receiving an operation to overlap onelayout object displaying one page object with another object displayingone page object; and if when there is a remainder of dividing a totalnumber of the page objects by 2, to display one layout object for theremainder, the layout object for the remainder displaying one pageobject with the layout object displaying two page objects.